f Rifabutin, used to treat HIV-infected tuberculosis, shows highly variable drug exposure, complicating dosing. Effects of SLCO1B1 polymorphisms on rifabutin pharmacokinetics were investigated in 35 African HIV-infected tuberculosis patients after multiple doses. Nonlinear mixed-effects modeling found that influential covariates for the pharmacokinetics were weight, sex, and a 30% increased bioavailability among heterozygous carriers of SLCO1B1 rs1104581 (previously associated with low rifampin concentrations). Larger studies are needed to understand the complex interactions of host genetics in HIV-infected tuberculosis patients. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT00640887.) R ifabutin is an alternative rifamycin for tuberculosis treatment. It is also used to treat other mycobacterial infections and to prevent Mycobacterium avium complex in patients with AIDS. Unlike rifampin, rifabutin does not reduce concentrations of concomitantly administered protease inhibitors (PIs) significantly (1). The pharmacokinetics of rifabutin are highly varied (2-4). As a CYP3A4 substrate, rifabutin is subject to drug interaction with CYP3A4 inhibitors, such as PIs, and increases in exposure can result in an increased risk for adverse effects, particularly uveitis. Toxicity, including uveitis, neutropenia, and hepatotoxicity, are a concern with high exposures (5). Conversely, low rifabutin exposures are associated with relapse and acquired rifamycin resistance (6). While therapeutic drug monitoring is advocated, it is seldom available (5). Although a lack of suitable formulations and cost limit the widespread use of the drug in resource-constrained settings, its use in combination with PIs is increasing as antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs mature and more patients are started on 2nd-line PI-based regimens.In a process subject to autoinduction, arylacetamide deacetylase converts rifabutin to the active primary metabolite 25-desacetyl rifabutin, which is in turn metabolized by CYP3A4 (7,8). Organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1) mediates hepatocellular influx of diverse xenobiotics prior to their excretion in bile (9). Functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in SLCO1B1, the gene encoding OATP1B1, have been associated with significant alterations in drug pharmacokinetics. SLCO1B1 rs4149032 and rs11045819 have been associated with lower rifampin and lopinavir concentrations (10-12), while the rs4149056 SNP is associated with higher concentrations of lopinavir and other drugs, including statins (13,14). The SLCO1B1 rs2306283 variant is associated with increased OATP1B1 expression (15). The allele frequencies of SLCO1B1 vary markedly between different populations (16). We recently showed that SLCO1B1 rs4149032 is carried by 70% of South Africans, in whom its presence predicts reduced rifampin concentrations (10). Since little is known about pharmacogenomic determinants of rifabutin exposure, we investigated the frequencies of SLCO1B1 SNPs rs4149032, rs11045819, rs4...